Improvement in folding tables



s. v. conNELL".

Folding Tables. No.137,658. PatentedApri|8.`1a73.

l Jia.

-UNITEE STATES @PATENT EFICE.

STEPHEN V. CORNELL, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMNT IN FLDING TABLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 137,65, dated April 8,1873; application filed February 6, 1873.`

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, STEPHEN V. CORNELL, of New Haven, in the county ofNew Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new tional View;Fig. 2, the table inverted, showing the manner ot' folding; Fig. 3, thetable folded; Fig. 4, the device applied to the top at the center toprevent the folding of the leat' when set up. ,i

This invention relates to an improvement in what are termed foldingtables, designed more particularly for a Wash-bench;77 and the inventionconsists in a folding table in which the top is formed from two partshinged together at the center, the legs hinged at each end, with braceshinged at the top to support the legs, the central leg hinged to onepart at the center, and a flexible brace at the other part, and themeans of securing the top in an open position, all as more fullyhereinafter described.

A B are the two parts of the table-top, hinged together at the center,as at ct, so that one part may be folded over onto the other. At theextreme ends a pair of legs, C, are hinged, as at d, so as to foldbeneath the table, as denoted in Fig. 2. Toward the center, upon eachside, as at b, a brace, D, is hinged, running to the legs and sittinginto a notch, f, on the legs, as seen in section in Fig. l, so that whenthe legs are in a vertical position the brace will drop to the bottom ofthis notch, as in Fig. 1, and serve as a brace to support the legs intheir vertical position and in order to insure the dropping of thebrace, as described, a spring, n, is arranged between the brace andtable, as seen in Fig. l. When the brace is pressed against the table,as denoted in broken lines, Fig. 1, the legs may be folded against theleaf upon the brace, as seen in Fig. 2, and when the legs are thusfolded one part of the table may be turned over onto the other part, asseen in Fig. 3. The table is provided with ribs E at the center and atthe ends in order to form a, space within which the legs may lie. F isthe central leg which is hinged to one part of the table, as at m, andwith a flexible brace, G, extending over and attached at the other part,so that when the table is opened this brace will tend to draw the .leginto a vertical position and hold it there. When closed the leg Ffoldsdown upon the side to which it is hinged, as denoted in brokenlines, Fig 2.

In order to enable the lifting of the table by the center, as one personmust necessarily do, it is desirable that the table be secured in anopen position, and this is done by a hinged loop, as seen in Fig. 4, onepart, H, attached to the part A of the table, the other part, L, hookingover a stud, l, on the other part, as seen in Figs. l and 4.

I claim as my invention#- In a folding table, the combination of thedivided top A and B hinged together at the center, the legs C C hingedat the extreme ends, the braces D, one end of which is hinged to thetable, the other resting in a notch, f, in thc leg, and a spring betweenthe said brace and table-top, the central leg F hinged to one part ofthe top, the eXible brace G attached to the leg, and the other part ofthe top with a locking device, H L, all as specified.

STEPHEN V. CORNELL.

Witnesses A. J. TIBBITs, J. H. SHUMWAY.

